Dolphins Stock Report (Day 17): Mike White forced to fight through adversity

Mike White hasn’t had a silver spoon NFL career.

The former University School and University of South Florida standout has come up the NFL ranks the hard way.

The veteran quarterback was waived a year after being drafted in the fifth-round by the Dallas Cowboys in 2018, and during his second season with the New York Jets he was waived and signed to the team four times before finally finding his footing in New York.

And despite spending the 2023 season as the Miami Dolphins’ top backup, it appears that White is being pushed for his role as Tua Tagovailoa’s backup by Skylar Thompson, the Dolphins’ 2022 seventh-round pick, who has spent the past two seasons as Miami’s No. 3 quarterback.

“The approach that I’ve kind of taken is to create super difficult situations for both of them, and as that manifests, whether the play calling choice, the situations that I’m asking them to do certain things specifically to put them in difficult situations,” coach Mike McDaniel said, explaining the quarterback use this camp. “What are we really trying to evaluate? We’re trying to evaluate who’s best to serve handling a difficult situation.”

Thompson has seemingly led in the past two weeks because he’s primarily worked with the second team unit. The competition is likely enters its final round this week as the Dolphins prepare for Wednesday’s joint practice and Friday’s preseason finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Considering Tagovailoa likely won’t play on Friday night, one quarterback will likely start the game and the other will be finishing it.

“If you start thinking one practice is more important than the other, or one week is more important than the other, you start to get out of your mental state and you start to worry about the wrong things and it starts to show up on the field,” said White, whose release would clear $3.5 million in cap space.

“I’m going to approach this thing the same way I’ve approached it since day one,” White continued. “Do my job, Do my reads, focus on my footwork, all the good stuff we’ve talked about, and just play ball.”

Considering new NFL rules will allow the practice squad quarterback to serve as the No. 3 quarterback for each game this season, the loser of the White-Thompson competition could be waived, with the intent of being signed to the practice squad.

But to make it on the practice squad the player would have to survive being claimed. However, only Thompson must go through the claim process because of White’s experience level. If waived White would become an unrestricted free agent.

When asked about the adverse circumstances he’s faced - like playing his snaps against the Washington Commanders in Saturday’s 13-6 preseason win with a receiver (Je’Quan Burton) playing tailback because of injuries - White downplayed it, pointing out “such is life as a backup quarterback.”

“You got to roll with the punches,” said White, who has completed 15-of-34 passes for 142 yards in the two preseason games he’s played, producing a 56.3 passer rating. “Maybe in my younger years I’d be stressing out, or all that good stuff. I’ve been trying to keep a level head and have fun with it.”

TOP PERFORMER

Stock Up

Curtis Bolton, a fifth-year linebacker who has been with the Dolphins for all of training camp, was a menace for one 11-on-11 period, where he made three straight impact plays. Bolton forced Jaylen Wright to fumble on a short completion from Thompson, and rookie cornerback Jason Maitre recovered it and would have returned it for a touchdown. Bolton then sacked Thompson to end his series, and on the next play he forced tight end Jonnu Smith to fumble what appeared to be a reception.

Plenty has been made about which undrafted rookie cornerback - Storm Duck, Isaiah Johnson and Maitre - will make it onto Miami’s 53-man roster, if Miami’s going to keep tradition of investing in a young undrafted player the way they did Nik Needham, Kader Kohou and Ethan Bonner. All three have played and practiced well consistently, so this decision might come down to their special teams contributions. However, don’t be surprised if all three are invited to be part of Miami’s 16 player practice squad if they aren’t claimed.

Stock Down

Are we sure Terron Armstead’s ready to start against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 9? At this point, based on the limited amount of work he’s done all of training camp, which equates to between a dozen and two dozen snaps of 11-on-11 practice in five weeks, the Dolphins’ five-time Pro Bowl left tackle is a mystery. In a session where Kendall Lamm was held out for unknown reasons, Armstead sparingly worked on Tuesday. Will the 33-year-old participate in Wednesday’s joint practices against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

In a limited contact practice, one where a quarterback is never supposed to be touched, somehow Liam Eichenberg managed to get pushed into Tagovailoa by Calais Campbell, and it actually put Tagovailoa on the ground, producing the first real sack of training camp. Accidents happen, but they are caused by some players more than others, and Eichenberg is at the very top of that list. At this point Eichenberg’s Miami’s best option at center while Aaron Brewer is sidelined by the right hand injury he suffered two weeks ago. But are we certain there isn’t a better option for the vacant right guard spot, either on this roster, or another team?

TAKEAWAY FROM THE DAY

The amount of no-contact red jerseys, which typically go to quarterbacks and players who are nursing serious injuries while returning to practice, has more than doubled because of all the injuries Miami has suffered in the preseason.

Cornerback Ethan Bonner, who missed last week because of a concussion, tight end Jody Fortson, who was nursing a stinger, tailback Jaylen Wright, who has a compression sleeve on his right leg, and tailback Chris Brooks, who is in the concussion protocol, were all wearing red jerseys on Tuesday.

If their status doesn’t change by next Tuesday, which is cut down day, the Dolphins will have some tough decisions to make regarding all their roster status. Wright and Brooks’ injury led to the signing of Anthony McFarland Jr. and Zandre Wright this week.

Everyone but Brooks participated in 11-on-11 drills on Tuesday. Brooks is in the early stages of the NFL’s concussion protocol.

WHAT THEY SAID

“Every year is my year. Whatever they want me to do I’m going to step forward and do whatever they need me to do. The confidence is going to stay the same. I believe in my ability and I know what I can do - I’m not going to say for any team - but I know what I can do for this team,” inside linebacker Channing Tindall, who has recorded a sack in the past two preseason games. “It’s always going to be the year for a Channing Tindall breakout. I’m going to say that every year.”